Critics Baffle Bellator Champion Lombard

Bellator Fighting Championships middleweight titleholder
Hector
Lombard feels the sting of criticism, from his reputation as a
brute in the gym to his perceived lack of competition. However, he
cannot understand the motives behind his detractors.

“Everyone criticizes me all the time,” Lombard said. “I don’t know
why. I haven’t been getting caught with drug tests like all these
guys.”

Lombard (Pictured, File Photo) holds particular disdain for peers
he views as “cheaters”: fighter hoping to gain a competitive edge
through performance-enhancing drugs. Having faced many adverse
situations in life and during his career, the onetime Olympic
judoka maintains he has never resorted to steroid use, no matter
the obstacle in front of him.

“The Alexander
Shlemenko fight [at Bellator 34] was good for me,” Lombard
said. “I was sick. I had the flu. I knew if he connected with me he
would put me to sleep. I didn’t want to take that risk because I
was sick. No excuses.”

After reaching the Olympics, Lombard immigrated to Australia from
Cuba in order to pursue his MMA career. Two lackluster performances
in
Pride Fighting Championships followed, as he lost decisions to
Akihiro
Gono and Gegard
Mousasi. Lombard acknowledges his training at that time left
something to be desired.

“When I fought in Pride, yeah, I didn’t train,” he said. “Yeah,
even you, if you go into the ring and you don’t train, you’re gonna
get tired. Now if you train and you train hard enough, you won’t
get tired.”

After visa issues nixed a proposed bout with Karo
Parisyan in the
UFC, Lombard signed with Bellator. He became the promotion’s
first 185-pound champion, defeating Jared Hess by
fourth-round technical knockout in Bellator’s inaugural
middleweight tournament final. With that, Lombard had answered the
lingering questions surrounding his conditioning and established
himself as one of the world’s top middleweights.

“Once again, I proved I can fight five rounds. It wasn’t the first
time,” Lombard said. “I finished Brian
Ebersole in the fourth round [at Cage Fighting Championships
5]. People say I can’t last four or more rounds. I don’t know
why.”

Lombard has not lost since those two decisions in Pride. He will
carry a 19-fight winning streak into a non-title 195-pound
catchweight bout with Trevor
Prangley at
Bellator 58 on Saturday at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and
Casino in Hollywood, Fla. Despite his success or perhaps in light
of it, Lombard claims he has been the subject of constant finger
pointing. Because of his muscular physique, many, he says, have
questioned whether or not he built his body naturally. In response,
Lombard points to his clean testing record -- as an Olympian and as
a professional mixed martial artist.

“Trust me, there is a lot of guys using and abusing [steroids],” he
said. “I know I don’t take anything. That’s why I want to fight all
the time. Most of the fighters don’t fight all the time because
they’ll juice up for three or four months, clean up and fight. I’m
fighting all the time, and when I fight in Australia, they do drug
tests, too.”

Lombard has difficulty understanding why he has been subjected to
criticism when he believes he approaches his career in the right
manner.

“Fighters act like real d---heads,” he said. “Tito Ortiz
gives everyone the finger in public. They love these guys; or like
Brock
Lesnar, who gave everyone the finger and said, ‘I don’t care if
everyone paid. F--- you.’ He says things like that, and everybody
loves that guy. Me, I’m a cool guy. I’ve never taken any steroids.
They always criticize me. Don’t know why.”